Explained: Slash and

not burn
What some Punjab farmers are doing to stop the heavy pollution
caused by burning harvested paddy stalks.
Written by Raakhi Jagga , Anju Agnihotri Chaba | Ludhiana/jalandhar | Published:November
6, 2015 12:50 am

A field on fire near Moga in Punjab.

Every year, around this time, vast tracts of agricultural land in Punjab and to an
extent, Haryana are lit up by thousands of fires, as farmers try to get rid of paddy
stalks that remain after the harvest. The problem is linked to the widespread use of
combine harvesters in Punjab, which leave 12-14 inch stalks often described as
stubble after the crop has been cut. The gap between successive crops in this
region is no more than 15-20 days, and as farmers hurry to prepare the ground, they
set their fields ablaze, sending up thick smoke that spreads a polluting shroud over a
large swathe of northwestern India, including the national capital. Scientific studies
have linked fine particulate matter in the haze to the melting of Himalayan glaciers and
other, larger climate change consequences.

ollution caused by

Government attempts to dissuade the farmers have largely failed. A small beginning,
though, has been made at exploring other, less environmentally damaging ways to get
rid of the stubble which also have powerful added advantages. Instead of burning
the paddy stalks, heres what some farmers are doing.

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PRODUCING POWER
Punjab has seven biomass-run power generating units, which use about 1 million
tonnes of the 15 million tonnes of paddy stubble the state produces annually to
generate 65 MW of power, according to the Punjab Energy Development Authority
(PEDA). The plants, which are run by private entities with PEDA acting as facilitator,
also use cotton stalks as fuel, joint director of the Authority, M P Singh, said.

Farmer Gurdeep Singh of Ferozepur district makes packing-material cardboard

from paddy stubble in a village factory.

The process of setting up the biomass plants started in 2005, and the last plant was
opened in 2013 in Mansa. Applications have been invited up to November 16 to set
up new plants with a combined capacity of 200 MW, said Singh.
He added, however, that it was not possible for the government to set up enough
plants that could consume all the paddy stubble generated in the state, and farmers
need to learn that they should not burn the stubble, and can instead plough it back
into the land.
Channu-based farmer Bhupinder Singh said, Most people in our village dont burn
the stubble. We give it to the power plant instead. You can see in the pictures
released by NASA that the Malwa region has less smog than the rest of Punjab.
CARDBOARD OPTION
Gurdeep Singh of village Bukan Khanwala in Ferozepur district uses paddy stubble
in a cardboard factory that he has set up on his land. Last season, Singh collected
stubble from 400 acres; this year, he has crossed 500 acres. Singh is also the local
environmental activist, who spends considerable time telling farmers of the damage
caused by burning stubble, as well as the gains from changing the habit.
Gurdeep started his cardboard factory nine years ago, using stubble collected from
24 acres of land. We met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal two years ago, and
he said he would visit our fields and ask officers to follow up on our initiative. But
forget about incentivising our efforts, the government hasnt even formally
appreciated our work so far, he said.
A similar unit was set up by Mintu Duggal in the Guru-Har-Sahai area five years
before Gurdeep. Sukhdev Singh of the same district followed Gurdeep with his own
unit. Duggal and Sukhdev, who collect stubble from 400 acres and 350 acres
respectively, however, complain of resistance from farmers and lack of support from
the government. The trio supplies cardboard to garment units in Amritsar, where it is
used as packaging material.

MANURE MAKER
The Punjab agriculture department has received over 500 applications for the
purchase of chopper-and-shredder machines that chop stubble finely, and which can
then be used as manure in the fields. The government has offered a subsidy of Rs 1
lakh on the machines, which cost a little over Rs 2 lakh each.
Last year, over 50 machines were purchased by farmers. This year, we have
received over 500 applications, Dr D R Kataria, joint director, agriculture and farm
machinery, said. The baler machines used earlier by farmers to shave off harvested
stalks are too expensive for individual farmers to afford, and are also not sufficiently
effective.
If you were to grow potaotes or any other vegetable in the same field after
harvesting paddy, there would always be some residue in the soil, which is not ideal
for the next crop, Dr Kataria said. The chopper-and-shredder cuts the stubble small
enough to be readily absorbed as manure.
Using this machine, farmers can help prevent the loss of 1 lakh tonnes of nitrogen,
0.5 lakh tonnes of phosphorus and 2.5 lakh tonnes of potash over the 27 lakh
hectares in which paddy is grown in the state, Dr Naresh Gulati of the Technology
Management Agency said.
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